I really have no further info about this movie, but personally I think it's quite a shame that Senna's family sold the rights over his life to Hollywood. We all know how unreal and out-of-porpose these biographies are treated by the movie industry. I'm sure we're all going to see an over-romantic and over-fantastic history, that has nothing to do with reality.

Anyway, I'll bet that they will put this 'Jean-Luc Picard' guy to play Frank Williams. And probably Marlon Brandon will play Dr. Sid Watkins...

In 2001 the Senna family were a step away from making a movie on the life of Ayrton.
The director was Steven Spielberg and the main actor (which was interpreted Ayrton) was Antonio Banderas who was guest for a few months in Brazil to enter even more in character. Everything in the production of Warner. Banderas and Spielberg had signed free to offer their work, aware of the beneficial end of the movie and even Bernie Ecclestone, which gives even the bone of a cherry that has already eaten, he said available free to divest the use of all Circus images that are its own.
Everything was ready for the realization came when Ron Dennis (McLaren image rights are also his), which obviously had heard about the project and asked for the use of images of Ayrton driving a McLaren a compensation that the Foundation had to abandon the project.
Thanks to this "gentleman" evaporated around 25 million dollars in revenue that would have allowed a lot of social assistance.

Originally posted by gio66 In 2001 the Senna family were a step away from making a movie on the life of Ayrton. The director was Steven Spielberg and the main actor (which was interpreted Ayrton) was Antonio Banderas who was guest for a few months in Brazil to enrare even more in character. Everything in the production of Warner. Banderas and Spielberg had signed free to offer their work, aware of the beneficial end of the movie and even Bernie Ecclestone, which gives even the bone of a cherry that has already eaten, he said available free to divest the use of all Circus images that are its own.Everything was ready for the realization came when Ron Dennis (McLaren image rights are also his), which obviously had heard about the project and asked for the use of images of Ayrton driving a McLaren a compensation that the Foundation had to abandon the project.Thanks to this "gentleman" evaporated around 25 million dollars in revenue that would have allowed a lot of social assistance.

Thank you very much to everyone involved in canning a movie to celebrate the life of a great racing driver

Shooting for a documentary feature film about the life and career in formula one of Ayrton Senna will begin next month, British makers Working Title Films have announced.

The movie, with the backing of both the late Brazilian's family and Formula One Management, will span the great triple world champion's years in the top category of open wheel racing between 1984 to his death at Imola ten years later.

London based Working Title Films said the feature will explore Senna's life and work, his physical and spiritual achievements on the track, his quest for perfection and the mythical status he attained since dying at the age of 34.

With the permission of the Senna family, it will be the first documentary about the former Lotus, McLaren and Williams driver, while Formula One Management will provide footage.

Among Working Title's hits include About a Boy, Elizabeth, Dead Man Walking, Billy Elliot and Four Weddings and a Funeral.

Originally posted by RA Historian Let's hope that they do not have Toby Maguire play Senna.

(see separate thread on proposed Phil Hill film)

Tom

I saw that and am still wondering where they intend to go with it. Did they get the approval of the Hill family?The Senna project is supposed to be a documentary, so there won't be any stand-ins. I read back in 2001 that Antonio Banderas had expressed a great deal of interest in playing Senna.http://news.bbc.co.u...ent/1547619.stm

The film is being pieced together with the consent and active involvement of Senna's family, most notably his sister Vivianne who spoke with the British newspaper The Observer, saying: "Ayrton moved people, his story is exciting. Antonio proposed it not only as a commercial project but as an ideal as well.http://www.grandprix...ns/ns04853.html

Well, to be fair it just looks like what it is - a two-hour documentary using footage from the period with all the quality issues that raises. I think many people will be amazed if this brings anything new, surely it's all been seen, told and done before - just not on the big screen.

I would be much more interested in a movie about Ayrton's life until 1984.
We already know everything about the last ten years.
Why don't they make a movie about how Ayrton started racing karts until he signs the Lotus contract? The rest we know.
That way they won't have to worry about the McLaren problem either.

I thought I would bump this up as the movie is due for release on June 03, although if you are in the Manchester area there is a preview showing, followed by a Q&A with the director and writer on Tue 31 May, starting at 18:10 at the Cornerhouse in Manchester http://www.cornerhou...fault.aspx?wm=W

What baffles me is that Senna made his name in Britain, drove for British teams at a time when the world's motor-racing industry was 95% based in England, won his World Championships while working for British companies, yet we are about the last country in the world to see the film............. Have we got BO?

What baffles me is that Senna made his name in Britain, drove for British teams at a time when the world's motor-racing industry was 95% based in England, won his World Championships while working for British companies, yet we are about the last country in the world to see the film............. Have we got BO?

What baffles me is that much of the movie is about a bunch of journalists talking, people who just witnessed him doing what he did from the side lines. It would have been so much interesting if the people he raced with had been interviewed instead; mechanics, Byrne, Dudot, Ducarouge, Ascanelli, etc.

What baffles me is that much of the movie is about a bunch of journalists talking, people who just witnessed him doing what he did from the side lines. It would have been so much interesting if the people he raced with had been interviewed instead; mechanics, Byrne, Dudot, Ducarouge, Ascanelli, etc.

I wait to the film about Ayrton Senna.

I hope it captures the Racing Spirit as much as TT3D.

TT3D is unmissable for any real Racing Enthusiast, it captures the very essence of motorsport in all its facets and includes nothing but those really involved!

Well, to be fair it just looks like what it is - a two-hour documentary using footage from the period with all the quality issues that raises. I think many people will be amazed if this brings anything new, surely it's all been seen, told and done before - just not on the big screen.

Having seen the film yesterday I would disagree - there was quite a lot of footage I had not seen before - some footage from the drivers briefings with JB Balestere getting rather annoyed and Senna ending up walking out of one briefing, being quite indicative of the politics of the period.

The director of the film did a Q&A after the session and said that quite a lot of the footage had never been screened before, being from the FOM archives.

I would say the film is well worth seeing, even if, like me, you are not an avid Senna fan.

Having seen the film yesterday I would disagree - there was quite a lot of footage I had not seen before - some footage from the drivers briefings with JB Balestere getting rather annoyed and Senna ending up walking out of one briefing, being quite indicative of the politics of the period.

I went to see this yesterday in Derby - showing until the 16th June at The Quad, affiliated to The University of Derby, which shows both general release films as well as less mainstream titles - and was hugely impressed. The Quad are to be congratulated for programming this film and I noted that, on a weekday afternoon both the earlier showing, and the one I went to, were well-attended. I would be interested to know how audience numbers have compared to those for the mainstream films showing at the same time.

Quite simply this is one of the most moving and interesting documetaries on any sporting figure that I have ever seen. It is also exlusively produced using archive, as noted by several contributors to this thread, and therein lies its magic. Contributions that were recorded for the film, and not in period, are used as voice-overs and I think this lends itself well to aiding an audience to re-live the events of Senna's life by being more absorbed in the images on screen. The feeling of re-living those events was very real. Director Asif Kapadia and all his team are to be congratulated.

I would say that there is a reasonably well-balanced set of contributions from other drivers and team members including, especially, Ron Dennis and Patrick Head. Alain Prost does come over as a warm and humorous individual but one who was also clearly very angry about the way he was portrayed as the villain of the piece. If anything, the most truly revelationary scenes for me were those that featured Jean-Marie Balestre's confrontational and arrogant attitude towards just about everyone. We have, genuinely, come a long way since those times and much of that may be as a result of Senna's death.

The very sad and disturbing footage of Imola was basically what had been shown on TV but I had not personally seen the images of Roland Ratzenberger's accident nor the very rough handling of Rubens Barrichello's Jordan after the Friday practice accident that saw marshals righting Rubens's car without waiting for a medical crew to attend first. The "behind the scenes" shots of Senna reacting to his witnessing the Simtek crash was extremely poignant. I would disagree with the viewpoint that this film does not add anything new. It has, in my view, achieved a remarkable level of insight into Senna's character. As to the events of Imola, I did note that it included the comment from Patrick Head that "we shall probably never know the actual cause of the accident", although when this was recorded is not clear, and the "broken steering column" conclusion was also quoted. The film is, however, not intended to be an analysis of Imola 1994. Instead, enjoy this film for what it is - a celebration of the life of one of the world's greatest racing drivers and a hero to millions.

I wonder if, given the hugely positve reaction to this film, there is a case for persuading Hugh Hudson to finally release Fangio to a potentially more aware and receptive audience?

Exceptional. I saw it at a small independant cinema in Norwich last night. My good friend Jack Sears was in the seat just infront of mine, he luckily got the last 2 tickets. At the end we stood chatting about it for a good 15 minutes on the pavement outside, with our better halves too. Very emotional, lots of red eyes... I'll definitely be going to see it again in a few days..you all must go and you have to see this at the cinema, don't wait for the DVD.

Exceptional. I saw it at a small independant cinema in Norwich last night. My good friend Jack Sears was in the seat just infront of mine, he luckily got the last 2 tickets. At the end we stood chatting about it for a good 15 minutes on the pavement outside, with our better halves too. Very emotional, lots of red eyes... I'll definitely be going to see it again in a few days..you all must go and you have to see this at the cinema, don't wait for the DVD.

I should be going on Tuesday afternoon to said cinema - to think I missed you and Jack Sears by not going yesterday!

Having just got back from watching the film both my wife & I think it would be very difficult for the film to have been any better. I had high hopes from all of the reviews I had read,but it exceeded even those expectations. I am now going to spend the next few days telling all my friends that they should make the effort to see it.

Am I alone in being slightly disappointed by the Senna movie. I saw it it on the internet in China via the USA some time ago but I was marshalling throughout Senna's career and have many personal meomories of the man and his achievements.

Therefore to me the choice of events to cover in his life is a little strange. His mesmeric drive at the 1993 Grand Prix of Europe is never even mentioned. The film does succeed in communicating Ayrton's ability to communicate and inspire as well as just drive. But for me the perfect example of that was a wet qualifying session at Donington, 1993. I was flagging on the exit of the Melbourne Hairpin and Ayrton was one of many drivers to spin as he put the power down. He stalled and I will always remember him waving his arms to call for assistance to restart. His body language showed the same humility as a club racer grateful for help. All I could do was cover his back with the yellow flag while my colleagues pushed him back into the session. But we were close enough to see his eyes through his visior and the expression of gratitude will stay with me for ever. I don't recall any of the other's we helped in the same way showing the same appreciation. At that moment Senna became human as well as an idol. It is such a pity that that weekend has been omitted from the film.

His early years are sketchily covered as well. There is nothing on his Formula Ford days. I would have loved to reprise my first sight of Ayrton passing Julian Bailey round the outside of the Mallory Park esses in only his third or fourth car race. All the marshals on post, who had about 200 years of collective experience, looked at each other and gasped "Who's this! I checked the programme and memorised the name of Senna da Silva as he was known then.

Ayrton's decision to divorce his first wife and stay on in the UK to continue his racing career after the end of his first season in Formula Ford is also omitted entirely. Surely that spoke volumes about his commitment and the sense of lonliness that often came across in his later years and is pivotal to understanding his personality?

Another gap is any footage of his classic battle with Martin Brundle for the British F3 championship in 1983. The duels with Alain Prost are covered effectively and in depth. But long before that in F3 was when he first gave notice of ultimate intent as well as showing his ruthless streak. But for a me a personal memory perhaps clouds my judgement here. I was marshalling at Cadwell in 1983 when Ayrton crested Mountain Top in an F3 car on the grass and demolished the marshal's post. It was the first practice session in the morning. I was waiting there to cross the track to race control to sign on having been delayed by a puncture en route. Ayrton was carted off to the medical centre leaving several marshals injured, although fortunately not me. As far as I know he never came back. He just put the incident out of his mind. Brundle, however, stopped on the track to check if the marshals were OK. Maybe that is why Senna became world champion and Brundle didn't.

The film is raw and moving especially concerning the events in 1994. It doesn't attempt to be a polished Hollywood biopic or to be judgemental and therein lies its strength. I didn't see the San Marino GP live on TV as many other reviewer's did and much of the footage was new, shocking and thought provoking. But again I found a personal memory intruding on the subsequent coverage of his funeral. The adulation with which he was regarded in Brazil is well captured. But the respect of his peers and of motor racing officials less so.

On the fateful day I was observing at an F3000 meeting at Silverstone. I was called to give evidence to the stewards against Mikka Van Hool who I had earlier reported for continuing to race under red flags. I was giving my testimony in the stewards office when the door burst open and Roland Buyenserade came in uninvited, (not sure of the spelling but he had been F1 race director until fired after the 1993 Britsh GP controversy then placed in charge of F3000). He interrupted and told the stewards in French that there had been a bad accident and he believed Senna was dead. This was hours before his death was officially confirmed but nobody in the room was in any doubt. You could have heard a pin drop and the expressions of horror and disbelief on everyone's faces will haunt me for ever. To his credit Van Hool immediately changed his plea to guilty. He was fined heavily and the meeting closed hurridly before the stewards returned to race control to get up to speed with what had happened. I went back to my post at Chapel only to find that word had spread among the marshals like a jungle telegraph. The meeting continued and for the record David Coulthard won the F3000 race amidst a funereal atmosphere the like of which I have never experienced before or since.

I thought seriously about giving up marshalling after that and in truth racing was never quite the same carefree pleasure it had been before. But in the event I continued for another ten years partly because I believe Ayrton would have wanted the sport to live on after him.

In short the film is a must see for any motor racing fan but don't expect it to be the complete story, comfortable viewing, or to provide conclusions to all the debates about Ayrton's life, death and attitude to the sport.

On the fateful day I was observing at an F3000 meeting at Silverstone. I was called to give evidence to the stewards against Mikka Van Hool who I had earlier reported for continuing to race under red flags. I was giving my testimony in the stewards office when the door burst open and Roland Buyenserade came in uninvited, (not sure of the spelling but he had been F1 race director until fired after the 1993 Britsh GP controversy then placed in charge of F3000). He interrupted and told the stewards in French that there had been a bad accident and he believed Senna was dead. This was hours before his death was officially confirmed but nobody in the room was in any doubt. You could have heard a pin drop and the expressions of horror and disbelief on everyone's faces will haunt me for ever. To his credit Van Hool immediately changed his plea to guilty. He was fined heavily and the meeting closed hurridly before the stewards returned to race control to get up to speed with what had happened. I went back to my post at Chapel only to find that word had spread among the marshals like a jungle telegraph. The meeting continued and for the record David Coulthard won the F3000 race amidst a funereal atmosphere the like of which I have never experienced before or since.

Memory playing tricks there.

Bruyenserade was on duty at Imola that day.

He was F1 race director until the end of the 1995 season when he moved to DTM.

No, you are not alone. A movie for the general public and casual fan. I was more than slightly disappointed.

Be realistic - if you had £0.5 million to get the FOM footage for the type of film you want, not to mention all the other costs, would you be willing to risk it not being something that you could get distributed and hence get a return.

It could have been much worse, as the director said in the Q&A, there had been several big film companies pitching to make a Senna movie in the usual american block-buster style, big name stars, CGI, dubious 'action' footage, invented 'love' interest, etc. Luckily the Senna family turned them all down and we ended up with something that, while possibly not being ideal for all the 'anoraks' among us, at least might have a chance of artistic and commercial success.

Am I alone in being slightly disappointed by the Senna movie. I saw it it on the internet in China via the USA some time ago but I was marshalling throughout Senna's career and have many personal meomories of the man and his achievements.

Therefore to me the choice of events to cover in his life is a little strange. His mesmeric drive at the 1993 Grand Prix of Europe is never even mentioned. The film does succeed in communicating Ayrton's ability to communicate and inspire as well as just drive. But for me the perfect example of that was a wet qualifying session at Donington, 1993. I was flagging on the exit of the Melbourne Hairpin and Ayrton was one of many drivers to spin as he put the power down. He stalled and I will always remember him waving his arms to call for assistance to restart. His body language showed the same humility as a club racer grateful for help. All I could do was cover his back with the yellow flag while my colleagues pushed him back into the session. But we were close enough to see his eyes through his visior and the expression of gratitude will stay with me for ever. I don't recall any of the other's we helped in the same way showing the same appreciation. At that moment Senna became human as well as an idol. It is such a pity that that weekend has been omitted from the film.

His early years are sketchily covered as well. There is nothing on his Formula Ford days. I would have loved to reprise my first sight of Ayrton passing Julian Bailey round the outside of the Mallory Park esses in only his third or fourth car race. All the marshals on post, who had about 200 years of collective experience, looked at each other and gasped "Who's this! I checked the programme and memorised the name of Senna da Silva as he was known then.

Ayrton's decision to divorce his first wife and stay on in the UK to continue his racing career after the end of his first season in Formula Ford is also omitted entirely. Surely that spoke volumes about his commitment and the sense of lonliness that often came across in his later years and is pivotal to understanding his personality?

Another gap is any footage of his classic battle with Martin Brundle for the British F3 championship in 1983. The duels with Alain Prost are covered effectively and in depth. But long before that in F3 was when he first gave notice of ultimate intent as well as showing his ruthless streak. But for a me a personal memory perhaps clouds my judgement here. I was marshalling at Cadwell in 1983 when Ayrton crested Mountain Top in an F3 car on the grass and demolished the marshal's post. It was the first practice session in the morning. I was waiting there to cross the track to race control to sign on having been delayed by a puncture en route. Ayrton was carted off to the medical centre leaving several marshals injured, although fortunately not me. As far as I know he never came back. He just put the incident out of his mind. Brundle, however, stopped on the track to check if the marshals were OK. Maybe that is why Senna became world champion and Brundle didn't.

The film is raw and moving especially concerning the events in 1994. It doesn't attempt to be a polished Hollywood biopic or to be judgemental and therein lies its strength. I didn't see the San Marino GP live on TV as many other reviewer's did and much of the footage was new, shocking and thought provoking. But again I found a personal memory intruding on the subsequent coverage of his funeral. The adulation with which he was regarded in Brazil is well captured. But the respect of his peers and of motor racing officials less so.

On the fateful day I was observing at an F3000 meeting at Silverstone. I was called to give evidence to the stewards against Mikka Van Hool who I had earlier reported for continuing to race under red flags. I was giving my testimony in the stewards office when the door burst open and Roland Buyenserade came in uninvited, (not sure of the spelling but he had been F1 race director until fired after the 1993 Britsh GP controversy then placed in charge of F3000). He interrupted and told the stewards in French that there had been a bad accident and he believed Senna was dead. This was hours before his death was officially confirmed but nobody in the room was in any doubt. You could have heard a pin drop and the expressions of horror and disbelief on everyone's faces will haunt me for ever. To his credit Van Hool immediately changed his plea to guilty. He was fined heavily and the meeting closed hurridly before the stewards returned to race control to get up to speed with what had happened. I went back to my post at Chapel only to find that word had spread among the marshals like a jungle telegraph. The meeting continued and for the record David Coulthard won the F3000 race amidst a funereal atmosphere the like of which I have never experienced before or since.

I thought seriously about giving up marshalling after that and in truth racing was never quite the same carefree pleasure it had been before. But in the event I continued for another ten years partly because I believe Ayrton would have wanted the sport to live on after him.

In short the film is a must see for any motor racing fan but don't expect it to be the complete story, comfortable viewing, or to provide conclusions to all the debates about Ayrton's life, death and attitude to the sport.

I had a similar experience regarding Senna. I was also a marshal during the period of Senna's career.

My first recollection of him was at a meeting at Donington when I was flagging at the chicane, in the days when the flag point was in front of 'Uncle Tom's cabin'. During the FF1600 practice session the yellow helmeted driver of a yellow & blue RF81 caught our attention from the way he was attacking the corner. After a few laps he caught the then current FF1600 'hot shoes' and on one lap just launched his car down the inside of one of them, completing a truly literal 'overtaking' manoeuvre by riding over the other cars rear wheels. I turned to my fellow flag marshal and remarked 'that guy will be a future world champion, if he does not kill himself first'.

The following year I was flagging at Druids Out at Oulton Park for a FF2000 qualifying session when a yellow & blue RF82 again become prominent for the way its driver was attacking the corner. In the end the inevitable occurred and the car ended up in the barriers at my feet. Same helmet yellow helmet and Brazilian flag. 1983 was a different year as the yellow helmeted driver did not land at my feet, having failed to get that far after colliding with Brundle.

Like you I would have liked the film to have covered that period, and asked the director why they had not omitted his early single-seater years, at the Q&A session after the screening I saw in Manchester. His answer was that it was a question of trying to edit the footage down to meet the required run-time for the movie and they could not cover everything, likewise the reason why they had omitted the Donington Park GP footage from the film.

I thought the coverage of Imola weekend was well handled, especially as I had not seen much of that race on TV as like you I was a Silverstone that weekend, flagging a Becketts inside. During the lunch break on the Sunday I had returned to my caravan to watch the start of the race on our portable black & white TV and had seen it up to the crash before returning to post, convinced that Senna had not survived. I had always wondered why the marshals seemed reluctant to approach the car after the crash and appeared to hang back until the medical car arrived. Now, having seen the way they mishandled the Barrichello accident, I guess I understand why...

I agree that the film handled the Senna/Prost conflict well, as a Prost fan I was expecting a hatchet job, but I think it was a pretty even handed, given that the film was about Senna. The director was asked about this and admitted that there had been some who wanted it that way but it didn't seem right when they attempted to edit it with a more Senna biased slant.

Overall I thought they did a good job, it is always easy to pick holes in something but the team are to be congratulated for producing a balanced view of an very complex character.

For those who are dissapointed by it remember it could have been a lot worse, as the director said in the Q&A, there had been several big film companies pitching to make a Senna movie in the usual american block-buster style, big name stars, CGI, dubious 'action' footage, invented 'love' interest, etc. Luckily the Senna family turned them all down and we ended up with something that, while not being ideal for all the 'anoraks' among us, at least might have a chance of artistic and hopefully commercial success.

Be realistic - if you had £0.5 million to get the FOM footage for the type of film you want, not to mention all the other costs, would you be willing to risk it not being something that you could get distributed and hence get a return.

It could have been much worse, as the director said in the Q&A, there had been several big film companies pitching to make a Senna movie in the usual american block-buster style, big name stars, CGI, dubious 'action' footage, invented 'love' interest, etc. Luckily the Senna family turned them all down and we ended up with something that, while possibly not being ideal for all the 'anoraks' among us, at least might have a chance of artistic and commercial success.

Oh I agree that it could have been worse, and your point is well taken. I was just expecting, I don't know, more, but hey I'm one of the 'anoraks'.

Oh I agree that it could have been worse, and your point is well taken. I was just expecting, I don't know, more, but hey I'm one of the 'anoraks'.

Here is something I posted elswhere which might explain how it ended up like it did, from the Q&A with the film's director .

Original pitch was for 90 min film (as stipulated by the distribution company), roughly 40 mins FOM archive footage (all they had the budget for), 40 mins of taking heads and 10 mins of assorted background footage, Ayton relaxing etc.This changed once they were given access to the FOM footage, as there was so much more available than they had expected/hoped for. They had to keep editing what was available down but where unable to get the story they wanted within the cost/run time constraints. In the end they managed to renegotiate with Bernie E (some feat in itself!) and ended up with a 104 minute movie that is mostly FOM footage.

The director and writer wanted to get away from the usual bit of footage, bit of talking head, more footage etc, documentary format.

Considering the length of the film I thought the choice of content excellent - by all accounts the original cut was 5 hours long...

My wife and I (both long-time motorsport fans and both having watched Imola "live") saw it on Saturday night at the Curzon (Soho) in London. Exceptional. We didn't speak for the first 10 minutes after we had left the cinema as we both had so much to think about and I for one was trying to maintain my decorum.

A couple of thoughts: Prost was overly made to look the bad guy, Senna's lower-formulae life was skipped completely.

The bits that shocked me were the handling of Barrichello's car immediately after his accident and the violence of Ratzenberger's crash. I hadn't seen the footage from across the track before. The realisation amongst the pit crews that he had died when they saw the level of aid being given was truly upsetting.

Just go and see it. F1 never gets on the big screen anyway, and when it has been assembled as well as this with such an enigmatic subject then don't let the anoraks' nit-picking put you off. It's fantastic.

Have just returned from seeing this in Norwich, and I'm immensely glad I went. Yes, Proper coverage of Donington '93 and Sennas' explots in FF and F3 would have ben nice, but there's only so long you can keep an audience in their seats. I don't think Alain came out too badly; the only point at which the film implied he acted less than honourably was in relation to Suzuka '89, which is an event that I feel most of us would agree was a 50:50 call in terms of where blame can be assigned at best.

I also found the accident scenes pretty sobering; Martin Donnelly's accident also affected many within the sport and it's obvious that it made Senna stop and think about what he was doing, possibly for the first time in his career. I had forgotten the level of damage to Lehtos and Lamys cars from the grid accident and had never before seen the Ratzenberger crash from the other side of the track, which brought home to me just what a shockingly violent impact it was. What also stood out for me with hindsight, was how exposed the cockpits were; yet I had been following F1 for 5 or 6 years by the time Imola happened.

Another reaction I experienced was how pompous old Balestre was and how, sexual predilections notwithstanding, Max was a breath of fresh air and much less inclined to meddle in areas that were the business of the Clerk of the Course and the Stewards. Some may feel that it was Prost that came out of the film in the least favourable light; IMO Balestre was the one whose legacy was most tarnished by it. As to his suggestion that a car missing a chicane should exit the escape road from whence it came, the thought of another driver missing his braking point and there being a head-on impact doesn't bear thinking about! It only reinforced my prior assumptions about Balestre, I'm afraid.

All in all, I think the young enthusiasts of today to whom Schumacher's Ferrari titles are ancient history ought to see this to give them an idea of the last generation of drivers who were allowed to be themselves. I cannot help feeling that such purity of racing and intensity of rivalry is a thing of the past.

Am I alone in being slightly disappointed by the Senna movie. I saw it it on the internet in China via the USA some time ago but I was marshalling throughout Senna's career and have many personal meomories of the man and his achievements.

Therefore to me the choice of events to cover in his life is a little strange. His mesmeric drive at the 1993 Grand Prix of Europe is never even mentioned. The film does succeed in communicating Ayrton's ability to communicate and inspire as well as just drive. But for me the perfect example of that was a wet qualifying session at Donington, 1993. I was flagging on the exit of the Melbourne Hairpin and Ayrton was one of many drivers to spin as he put the power down. He stalled and I will always remember him waving his arms to call for assistance to restart. His body language showed the same humility as a club racer grateful for help. All I could do was cover his back with the yellow flag while my colleagues pushed him back into the session. But we were close enough to see his eyes through his visior and the expression of gratitude will stay with me for ever. I don't recall any of the other's we helped in the same way showing the same appreciation. At that moment Senna became human as well as an idol. It is such a pity that that weekend has been omitted from the film.

His early years are sketchily covered as well. There is nothing on his Formula Ford days. I would have loved to reprise my first sight of Ayrton passing Julian Bailey round the outside of the Mallory Park esses in only his third or fourth car race. All the marshals on post, who had about 200 years of collective experience, looked at each other and gasped "Who's this! I checked the programme and memorised the name of Senna da Silva as he was known then.

Ayrton's decision to divorce his first wife and stay on in the UK to continue his racing career after the end of his first season in Formula Ford is also omitted entirely. Surely that spoke volumes about his commitment and the sense of lonliness that often came across in his later years and is pivotal to understanding his personality?

Another gap is any footage of his classic battle with Martin Brundle for the British F3 championship in 1983. The duels with Alain Prost are covered effectively and in depth. But long before that in F3 was when he first gave notice of ultimate intent as well as showing his ruthless streak. But for a me a personal memory perhaps clouds my judgement here. I was marshalling at Cadwell in 1983 when Ayrton crested Mountain Top in an F3 car on the grass and demolished the marshal's post. It was the first practice session in the morning. I was waiting there to cross the track to race control to sign on having been delayed by a puncture en route. Ayrton was carted off to the medical centre leaving several marshals injured, although fortunately not me. As far as I know he never came back. He just put the incident out of his mind. Brundle, however, stopped on the track to check if the marshals were OK. Maybe that is why Senna became world champion and Brundle didn't.

The film is raw and moving especially concerning the events in 1994. It doesn't attempt to be a polished Hollywood biopic or to be judgemental and therein lies its strength. I didn't see the San Marino GP live on TV as many other reviewer's did and much of the footage was new, shocking and thought provoking. But again I found a personal memory intruding on the subsequent coverage of his funeral. The adulation with which he was regarded in Brazil is well captured. But the respect of his peers and of motor racing officials less so.

On the fateful day I was observing at an F3000 meeting at Silverstone. I was called to give evidence to the stewards against Mikka Van Hool who I had earlier reported for continuing to race under red flags. I was giving my testimony in the stewards office when the door burst open and Roland Buyenserade came in uninvited, (not sure of the spelling but he had been F1 race director until fired after the 1993 Britsh GP controversy then placed in charge of F3000). He interrupted and told the stewards in French that there had been a bad accident and he believed Senna was dead. This was hours before his death was officially confirmed but nobody in the room was in any doubt. You could have heard a pin drop and the expressions of horror and disbelief on everyone's faces will haunt me for ever. To his credit Van Hool immediately changed his plea to guilty. He was fined heavily and the meeting closed hurridly before the stewards returned to race control to get up to speed with what had happened. I went back to my post at Chapel only to find that word had spread among the marshals like a jungle telegraph. The meeting continued and for the record David Coulthard won the F3000 race amidst a funereal atmosphere the like of which I have never experienced before or since.

I thought seriously about giving up marshalling after that and in truth racing was never quite the same carefree pleasure it had been before. But in the event I continued for another ten years partly because I believe Ayrton would have wanted the sport to live on after him.

In short the film is a must see for any motor racing fan but don't expect it to be the complete story, comfortable viewing, or to provide conclusions to all the debates about Ayrton's life, death and attitude to the sport.

Am going to see the film on sunday in Leeds and am looking forward to it . I had hoped that FF and F3 days would be covered too- just replying to your post as I was at the Mallory FF1600 race and so well remember thinking, like you, who is THIS?

There was only one race, on the Monday. The report in Autosport lists Mikke van Hool as a DNS, but doesn't say why. It could be that as a result of the incident witnessed by NanningF1, which must have been in qualifying, he was not allowed to race.

I have read the comments on this thread and the various reviews in the papers, and it is clear that this is a fine film. I love films and I love motor sport but I am very ambivalent about Senna himself.

At times his driving was sublime, I was one of the few people at Donington that day in 1993, but it strikes me that Senna was personally responsible for so much that is wrong with modern motor sport. He may not have invented it, but he certainly popularised the win at any costs mentality - the chopping, the blocking and, to be frank, the outright cheating. He set the example that too many others have followed not just in Formula 1 but his baleful influence has spread far and wide throughout much of motor sport. The saddest thing, to my mind, is that someone as clearly talented as Senna had no need for such a negative approach.